Shelley Hopkins, prosecuting, said Mr Davies had been riding his motorbike down the A460 on the afternoon of June 8 towards the roundabout at Pentrebach. He was in the right hand lane with the intention of going straight ahead, passing the Co-op store on his left, she said.

He was slightly faster than the car to his left, a Ford Focus driven by Delta Airlines baggage operator Terry Goodhart, 52, who intended to take the last exit off the roundabout to the right, the court heard.

But Goodhart, who was driving his wife and her aunt, was in the left hand lane and didn’t indicate when he pulled out at the roundabout before he collided with Mr Davies, it was said. Ms Hopkins said neither was doing excessive speeds.

The crash was captured by onboard camera system in the car behind.

Goodhart, of Sylvan Lake Drive, Grovetown in Georgia, admitted driving without due and attention.

“The status of the complainant in hospital will be monitored and if it does worsen then further charges may be considered in the future,” said Ms Hopkins.

Goodhart defended himself in court and said that he was in Wales for the first time with his wife to visit his in-laws.

The week-long holiday was due to end four days later but he was told to stay in the country for court proceedings.

“I am very sorry that the incident happened,” the father of one told the court.

“I hope that he makes an appropriate recovery.”

Deputy district judge Robert Morgan-Jones told Goodhart the only sanction open to him was a financial penalty and fined him £100. Goodhart must also pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

His driving record in this country will show five points.

The judge told him: “Cyclists are particularly vulnerable.

“They do not have the metal around them that car drivers have. It does not take very much when involved in an accident or collision for significant injury to arise.”

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